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Does a membership fee foster successful public good provision? An experimental investigation of the provision of a step-level collective good

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  • Mohamed Bchir
  • Marc Willinger

Abstract

We report the results of an experiment investigating the provision of a step-level collective good. This experiment compares the behavior of subjects in a public good game with the behavior of subjects in a club good game. In the club good game, players who do not contribute the membership fee are excluded from the consumption of the collective good. The introduction of a small membership fee has surprisingly strong effects: it increases the provision of the collective good, delays provision failures and increases the number of contributors. The experiment also reveals the limits of the introduction of a small fee. At a high threshold level, the membership fee no longer ensures successful provision. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Mohamed Bchir & Marc Willinger, 2013. "Does a membership fee foster successful public good provision? An experimental investigation of the provision of a step-level collective good," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 25-39, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:157:y:2013:i:1:p:25-39
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-012-9929-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    C92; D71; D60; H41; Public goods; Club goods; Membership fee; Step-level; Coordination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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